Thread by @AshleyDalton_MP on Thread Reader App

thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097359558167445936 dir=auto> The Assisted Dying Bill is unsafe and unworkable. A thread. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097359632855396568 dir=auto> I have terminal cancer. I know how it feels to look at your options. Once the option for assisted dying exists, some people may feel - or be - coerced into taking it, or do so out of fear of being a burden on their family or the NHS. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097359694335508850 dir=auto> If this Bill is passed, vulnerable people will be at risk. Age UK, MIND, Standing Together Against Domestic Abuse and the National Down Syndrome Policy Group all told the House of Lords Committee that the safeguards in the Bill would not protect the people they support. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097359792574447971 dir=auto> No single professional body or organisation supports this Bill. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097359852100046948 dir=auto> Supporters of the Bill talk about giving terminally ill people a choice. But there is not meaningful choice if palliative care in this country is not good enough. We need to fix this first. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097359940914413619 dir=auto> If a patient is 18+, a doctor can raise assisted dying with them. Several Royal Colleges have raised serious concerns about the impact on the doctor-patient relationship if the role changes to one that includes ending life, especially for vulnerable minority groups. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097359995671085186 dir=auto> There is no requirement for a psychological assessment of someone who asks for assisted dying. There is no requirement for a psychiatrist to see the person at all. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097360041900654680 dir=auto> The Bill uses the capacity test in the Mental Capacity Act 2005, despite the Royal College of Psychiatrists saying from the beginning that this test is 'not sufficient for the purposes of this Bill'. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097360204715175972 dir=auto> Supporters know the Bill is flawed but are carrying on pushing a bad law. The sponsors have reintroduced the Bill with no further amendments, so they can force the Bill through the Parliament Act rather than fix its flaws. thread#showTweet data-screenname=AshleyDalton_MP data-tweet=2097360284696379483 dir=auto> This is life-and-death legislation that will affect the most vulnerable people in our country. It is wrong to ignore the evidence of the very professionals that supporters expect to operate the system. • • • Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh